IV: The Devil's Hour
The transition from Hell to Earth is never pleasant, and for that I can thank my good old friend, Yahweh. He told me not to interfere with the universe, because it was his and all this other nonsense. I never pay much mind to him, and the first time I interfered on earth, it was just too much fun. The damage I caused, watching the havoc unfurl, it was too spectacular to miss out on. Of course, the horrible, nasty feeling I get deep in my core every time I get near anything Mr. Almighty owns, is sometimes almost enough to stop me from fooling around with humanity. Then I realize it's just a feeling and never can or ever will kill me.
Oh the destruction I have caused over the years, the miraculousness of it all. I've become fascinated with these creatures he created, these beings that inhabit this puny planet. The way they handle things is just so amazing, their trail of thought...their emotions and the agony they feel. They are so much more advanced than those beasts he created first, prowling around on four legs.
I almost find it unbelievable how you can make humans do anything you want, if you know what they desire. How easily their minds bend and mold, it's precious. But listen to me, rambling on about my obsessions when I've got work to do.
I walk at a brisk pace, the time is nearing 3am, and I only do this to humor the silly little humans. I feel my horns ripping out of my flesh as I change my form again, and the sting doesn't even bother me anymore. When I first grew them...it was horrible, the transition from Heaven to Hell much worse. Humans think wisdom teeth growing in or giving birth is agony. They have obviously never experienced real pain. Stupid mortals, they don't know anything.
I guess that's part of what I'm here for, to give them lessons their supposed all knowing God can't teach. You and the whole world might not appreciate what I do, and must think of only my selfish reasons for fucking up people's lives but there are a few accents of good intentions in everything I do. I like to think I'm not all bad, all the time.
I stop, having reached my destination and I stare up at the window of my oblivious victim. The street lights have been flickering since I appeared, but luckily there is no one walking along the sidewalks at this time of night to notice the strange sight.
Getting into the apartment is easy, after all I'm the devil, I don't go knocking on doors and asking for entrance. As soon as I step into the place, I smell the mouldy pages of a bible and the wooden crucifix on the wall. There is a catholic here, one who prays and still believes in God. I can feel it in the air, the essence of blind faith lingering around like unsettled dust. It agitates me, making my skin burn but I can handle a little discomfort. I grab the crucifix off the wall and throw it into the wastebasket, it doesn't serve much of a purpose, but it really freaks the humans out when they wake up and realize it's been misplaced, especially the religious ones.
I follow the soft scent of human to the bedroom and I decide to push open the door instead of just poofing myself in. I look around, spotting another crucifix and I knock it over with a gust of hot air. It makes a soft thump as it falls onto the carpet, and the slumbering couple shifts in their bed.
I spot him, curled in the blankets sleeping. He keeps tossing and turning, grunting every now and then as I watch him. He must feel my presence, his little religious bones tingling with my power. His wife is a different story, sleeping perfectly still, perched on the farthest side of the bed. I can't pick up a trace of religious morals on her, no faith in god or the devil. An atheist, bah. I could wake her if I wanted, to show her the devil does exist and vanquish her disbelief, but I'm not here to make her a believer. I'm here for a completely different reason.
I take silent steps towards his bed, but his face contorts as if I've been stomping around the entire time. He clutches the blankets to his chest like a scared child, his skin dripping sweat. Part of that could be because of me, my body always burning from the inside out. I stand by the side of the bed, staring down at him and he keeps twitching. Any moment now, he will awaken and spot the looming shadow at his side. I brush a few hairs away from his face, and the gentle touch is what makes him shoot upwards in bed, his eyes huge as they dart around the room.
Everything else in the room is frozen, the clocks all staying stuck on 3:00. The man looks towards his alarm clock, glowing brightly on the night stand and I think this is where he spots me. His head lifts slowly, taking in my entire form before a piercing scream rips out of his throat. He throws himself backwards, rolling off the frozen form of his wife and toppling right onto the floor. He rushes to the far side of the room and I slowly make my way to the end of the bed, perching myself on it as I observe him, trembling in the corner of the room. "Who...who are you?" he manages, though I can tell he has the knowledge of who I am, his round, fearful eyes say it all.
"Don't play stupid, boy," I say, sending him a look which makes him press his back against the wall even more, as if he's trying to disappear right into it.
"L...Lucifer," I roll my eyes at the old name and send him a disappointed look. Underneath all the terror, confusion surfaces. I stand off the bed and walk right up to him, the man finally noticing the difference in our heights once we are facing each other. It does nothing but scare him even more. I can almost taste his fear in the air.
"You people still call me by that? It's Axel now...has a nicer ring to it," I smirk down at him but he doesn't respond, though it's not like I'd expect him to. He's probably busy trying not to wet himself.
Before I can stop him, he ducks away from me, making a mad dash out of the room and into the rest of the apartment. With a groan, I follow after him, finding him as he crashes over his coffee table, hissing out in pain when he hits the floor. Lucky for me the wife is suspended in time, or she'd have woken up seconds after this manly one screamed like a girl. Really, he's being very noisy about all this.
"What do you want from me?" He sobs when I stand over him, my face illuminated by the moon light filtering into his living room through the balcony entrance. His eyes are glued to mine as he scoots away from me on his bottom. The tears stream steadily down his face and I smile, but something tells me it won't calm him. I watch his hands shakily reach into his shirt, and stare curiously until he pulls out a rosary, clutching at the beads with desperation.
The thought of killing him crosses my mind, just to show him that his precious rosary and pathetic prayers could have never save him, but I decide there are better things to do. I kneel beside him, grabbing the rosary from his hands and watching as it melts at my touch.
Let's play a little head trip on the kid.
"I'm here to deliver a message to you, Sora."
A/N: You guys couldn't possibly have expected me to pass up the opportunity of writing Axel's POV while he's the Devil, right!
I mean, just think of the endless possibilities and the coolness of it 8D
This story is going to mostly be from Roxas' eyes but Axel will pop in occasionally.
I figure it's a cooler way of moving the plot along and helping you guys understand what's going on, rather than just having Roxas always do the Q&A thing.
Axel's parts will never be very long.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this. I might not update anything for a while, getting these words typed was like pulling teeth. I'm horribly stuck with Brotherly Love. I want the ending to be epic, but I just can't seem to get it swinging in that direction. Hopefully, inspiration will grace me with her fleeting presence soon, and I'll have that typed up in a jiffy.
Until then darlings, enjoy this little addition to TDT.
Sending you all love from Hogtown.
-Sharmander.
